Precursor material

Process. Any standard precursor material can be used, but the preferred material is wet spun Courtaulds special acrylic fiber (SAF), oxidized by RK Carbon Fibers Co. to form 6K Panox B oxidized polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fiber (OPF). This OPF is treated ia a nitrogen atmosphere at 450—750°C, preferably 525—595°C, to give fibers having between 69—70% C, 19% N density less than 2.5 g/mL and a specific resistivity under 10 ° ohm-cm. If crimp is desired, the fibers are first knit iato a sock before heat treating and then de-knit. Controlled carbonization of precursor filaments results ia a linear Dow fiber (LDF), whereas controlled carbonization of knit precursor fibers results ia a curly carbonaceous fiber (EDF). At higher carbonizing temperatures of 1000—1400°C the fibers become electrically conductive (22). 

Silicon Nitride. SiUcon nitride is manufactured either as a powder as a precursor for the production of hot-pressed parts or as self-bonded, reaction-sintered, siUcon nitride parts. a-SiUcon nitride, used in the manufacture of Si N intended for hot pressing, can be obtained by nitriding Si powder in an atmosphere of H2, N2, and NH. Reaction conditions, eg, temperature, time, and atmosphere, have to be controlled closely. Special additions, such as Fe202 to the precursor material, act as catalysts for the formation of predorninately a-Si N. SiUcon nitride is ball-milled to a very fine powder and is purified by acid leaching. SiUcon nitride can be hot pressed to full density by adding 1—5% MgO. 

Rare earth oxides and phosphors Ceramics (AI2O3) and glasses Mining ores and rocks Superconductors and precursor materials Thin films... 

Traditionally, active carbons are made in particulate form, either as powders (particle size < 100 pm, with an average diameter of -20 pm) or granules (particle size in the range 100 pm to several mm). The main precursor materials for particulate active carbons, PAC, are wood, coal, lignite, nutshells especially from coconuts, and peat. In 1985, 360 kt of such precursors (including 36 % wood and 28 % coal) were used to make active carbons [10], of which nearly 80 % were used in liquid-phase applications, with the rest being used in gas-phase applications. Important factors in the selection of a precursor material for an active carbon include availability and cost, carbon yield and inorganic (mainly mineral) matter content, and ease of activation. 

Industrial carbon anodes and artificial graphites are not a single material but are rather members of a broad family of essentially pure carbon. Fortunately, artificial graphites can be tailored to vary widely in their strength, density, conductivity, pore structure, and crystalline development. These attributes contribute to their widespread applicability. Specific characteristics are imparted to the fmished product by conti ollmg the selection of precursor materials and the method of processing [19]... 

Organic solvents are most commonly used, and encapsulating polymers include ethylcellu-lose, NC, polvvinylidene chloride, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate, polyvinyl acetate and others. Inter facial polymerization produces a polymer such as nylon at the interface between layered solns of two precursor materials such as (in the case of a nylon) a diamine and a diacid (Refs 3 11). If the particle or drop-... 

Another class of silicon-containing polymers that have great potential to be extremely useful precursor materials are poly(chlorocarbosilanes).14f 46 Poly (chlorocarbosilanes) are not useful without modification because of the rapid hydrolysis of Si—Cl bonds, forming HC1 and an insoluble crosslinked polymer network. However, nucleophilic substitution of these Si—Cl bonds with various reagents produces materials widi a broad range of properties that are determined by the nature of the nucleophile used.47 Poly(chlorocarbosilanes) can be easily synthesized by ADMET (Fig. 8.18) without any detrimental side reactions, since the Si—Cl bond is inert to both catalysts 12 and 14. Early studies produced a polymer with Mn = 3000.14f... 

The atomic structure of the transition metals is such that the J shell is only partly filled. The first transition series (3d) comprises Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni the second (4d), Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, and Ag the third (5d), Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, and Au. Carbonyl derivatives of at least one type are found for all these metals. Although only a few are presently used in CVD, many are being investigated as they constitute an interesting and potentially valuable group of precursor materials. 

The requirements placed on the performance and reliability of CVD coatings are continuously upgraded. For one thing, this means the need for an ever increasing degree of purity of the precursor materials since impurities are the maj or source of defects in the deposit. The purity of a gas is expressed in terms of nines, for instance, six nines, meaning a gas that is 99.9999% pure, which is now a common requirement. It is also expressed in ppm (parts per million) or ppb (parts per billion) of impurity content. 

A major disadvantage of CVD (as opposed to PVD) is that many precursors are toxic and in some cases lethal even at low concentration (for instance nickel carbonyl, diborane, arsine, and phosphine). Some are also pyrophoric, such as silane, some alkyls, arsine, and phosphine. Very often the reaction is not complete and some of the precursor materials may reach the exhaust unreacted. In addition, many of the by-products of the reaction are also toxic and corrosive. This means that all these effluents must be eliminated or neutralized before they are released to the... 

YBa2Cu307 films are also obtained by MOCVD from a mixture of acetyl acetonates (tetramethyl heptadionate) of yttrium, barium, and copper, typically at a pressure of 5 Torr and at a deposition temperature of These precursor materials... 

The process competes with the traditional method of fiber production in which the precursor material is melted, usually in an arc furnace, then drawn through spinnerets and spun or impinged by high pressure air. The melt-spin process is not well suited to materials with high melting points such as zirconia, silicon carbide, or pure alumina. 

The solgel process uses a liquid reactive precursor material that is converted to the final product by chemical and thermal means. This precursor is prepared to form a colloidal suspension or solution (sol) which goes through a gelling stage (gel) followed by drying and consolidation. The process requires only moderate temperatures, in many cases less than half the conventional glass or ceramics... 

The first elastomeric protein is elastin, this structural protein is one of the main components of the extracellular matrix, which provides stmctural integrity to the tissues and organs of the body. This highly crosslinked and therefore insoluble protein is the essential element of elastic fibers, which induce elasticity to tissue of lung, skin, and arteries. In these fibers, elastin forms the internal core, which is interspersed with microfibrils [1,2]. Not only this biopolymer but also its precursor material, tropoelastin, have inspired materials scientists for many years. The most interesting characteristic of the precursor is its ability to self-assemble under physiological conditions, thereby demonstrating a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior. This specific property has led to the development of a new class of synthetic polypeptides that mimic elastin in its composition and are therefore also known as elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs). 

In mixtures of nonpolar solvents with little water, surfactants form spherical reverse micelles. They have a reversed orientation of the molecules with the hydrophilic groups in the interior and a drop of enclosed water in the middle. Starting from a precursor material, metal oxides in the form of uniform nanosized spheres can be obtained by hydrolysis under controlled conditions (pH, concentration, temperature). For example, titanium oxide spheres are obtained from a titanium alkoxide, Ti(OR)4 + 2 H20 —t Ti02 + 4 ROH. 

Fe, O, nanocrystals by hydrothermal decomposition of a metallorganic molecular precursor. Materials Science and Engineering B, 157 (1-3), 81-86. 

Ref. Year Precursor materials Half cell RRDE PEMFC ESR IR Mossbr NMR Raman SIMS UV XAS XPS XRD SEM TEM Elemental Thermal... 

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